P.U.
Start with Luis Severino getting punished by Andrew Benintendi for a pair of three-run homers, when he wasn’t walking the bottom of the Red Sox order.
Move to Todd Frazier and Didi Gregorius committing costly errors and Aaron Judge’s sliding downhill faster than a luge.
Then absorb the fact that outside of Gary Sanchez tucking a two-run homer inside the right-field foul pole in the first inning Saturday, the Yankees didn’t do much against lefty Drew Pomeranz.
Mix that recipe in a bowl and it would smell like a sewer, which is where Saturday’s 10-5 loss to the Red Sox in front of a sold-out Yankee Stadium crowd of 47,241 belonged. Pinstriped nose plugs would have been the perfect giveaway.
One night after a scintillating comeback win, the Yankees dropped to 4½ games behind the AL East-leading Red Sox.
“I was trying to be too perfect and threw a couple of pitches right down the middle,’’ said Severino, who retired the first seven Red Sox then gave up five runs (four earned) in the third and five (four earned) more in the fifth.
Thanks to Severino going 4-0 with a 1.36 ERA in his previous six starts, manager Joe Girardi had anointed the right-hander the staff ace. And considering CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka went on the disabled list Friday and Saturday, respectively, and Jordan Montgomery got hit in the ear by a foul ball during the Red Sox’s batting practice, the Yankees needed Severino to be an ace.
“He wasn’t executing pitches. He made some mistakes, location, with his fastball and some sliders,’’ Girardi said of Severino (9-5), who gave up eight runs (10 earned) and eight hits in 4 ¹/₃ innings, which is his second shortest outing of the season. “He has been so good and executing so well. We haven’t seen [lack of execution] for a while. It shows that he is human.’’
Severino’s ugly numbers weren’t the only reason the Yankees lost for the seventh time in 11 games and will face AL Cy Young favorite Chris Sale on Sunday night looking to take two of three from the Red Sox.
After retiring the first seven Red Sox, Severino walked Christian Vazquez and Jackie Bradley Jr., the eighth- and ninth-place hitters, respectively, in the third with a 2-0 lead provided by Sanchez’s home run in the first.
Severino then fed an Eduardo Nunez ground ball to the sure-handed Frazier at third and there was a chance the Yankees would survive those two walks with a double play. However, the ball spilled out of Frazier’s glove and the bases were loaded.
Mookie Betts followed with a two-run single and Benintendi hit a three-run homer to right-center. Two innings later, Gregorius’ throwing error fueled another five-run barrage that was highlighted by Benintendi’s second three-run blast.
“I just rushed it. When you rush something like that happens, you fumble the ball,’’ said Frazier, who thought there was a chance to get an inning-ending double play. “It was a big play in the game, a big mistake and I take responsibility.’’
As for Judge, the K-parade continued, and after going down looking in the first and third innings, he got the bat on the ball in the fifth and hit into a double play.
“It is something I can definitely think about,’’ Girardi said of giving Judge a day off. “We are trying to get him back on track and it’s been a struggle.’’
Judge’s slump started July 14 in Boston so it’s not a 10-day deal. In 26 games (25 starts) Judge is hitting .161 (15-for-93). In those 93 at-bats he has 43 strikeouts and has whiffed at least once in 29 games, which is three short of Adam Dunn’s all-time record.
Saturday was a struggle, too. One with a stench attached.